poker good, duke basketball bad....

so poker is still going well. I had a few losing days after my sick rush to start the month, but I've since had a couple decent wins, and I'm still having a great month. The important thing is that I really need to play 4-6 hours a day for the last 9 days of the month. I've been spending so much time working out and dealing with baseball (as well as that weekend out of town) that I really just haven't played enough hours this month. I'm finally playing at levels where my hourly is really really good, and I need to take advantage of that by putting in the time and not just getting complacent. Sure it is great to make 80% more than I did at my old job, but if I could easily make 150% more than I don't think it is ridiculous to shoot for that.

I also really need to get my tax stuff going. I don't want to be panicking at the end if I screw something up. I honestly don't mind paying taxes, but I'm going to take advantage of any write off that I can. I think I've found a CPA that can help me out.

On to other news. Working out is going well. I really believe I'm getting in the best shape of my life. I've never really been able to get "cut" but I'm starting to see some muscles that I haven't seen before. I know that I have very little body fat, but I've been consuming +150g of protein everyday in an attempt to add more lean muscle. I've also taken up jumping rope. I used to be horrible at it, but I basically began teaching myself at the end of last week. I'm now able to pretty efficiently jump at a relatively high speed, and I can alternate between hopping on one or two legs (or back and forth between the L and R). I think it is just another layer I can add to my work out routine that is going to keep finding and working new muscles. I try to mix up my workout stuff everyday so that my body is never adapting, and the workout is losing its effectiveness. By adding or subtracting various sets I can keep my workout fresh. Also I think it helps my mental outlook as I never get bored with the idea of working out. It also helps that I'm getting +8 hours of sleep every night for the first time since I was probably 12 years old. I'm feel like I have more energy, better focus, and more stamina. And that applies to poker as well as baseball. I don't think there is any coincidence that my poker game has been improving recently at the same time that I've made really big strides in improving my fitness, diet, and sleep patterns.

Oh and Duke basketball is sucking big time right now. I think the guys must be struggling through midterms because we've looked focused for a grand total of 5 minutes in our last two games (both of which ended in losses). Oh well, if we win out we still have a great shot for a 1 seed. So we shall see.

how about some poker hands:

I resqueeze a possible squeezer, and then have to bluff the flop:

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: $1161.50
UTG+1: $819.90
Hero: $754.30
Button: $242.50
SB: $158.50
BB: $502.80

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with ah jd
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, Button calls, SB folds, BB raises to $56, Hero raises to $143, Button folds, BB calls.

Flop: 7h 6c ks ($302, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $211, BB folds.
Uncalled bets: $211 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: $302

Here I make a standard river value bet. Not sure if I would have called if he raised. The A is the optimal bluff card, and the action really led me to believe he had a pair like 55-77 or 99-JJ. I just don’t think there are a lot of Ax in his range when he 3-bets the flop but just calls my turn lead. So I likely would have called a river raise assuming this guy wasn’t a total nit (and he wasn’t).

Full Tilt Poker
Limit Holdem Ring game
Limit: $15/$30
4 players

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is BB with th ts
UTG folds, Button raises, SB folds, Hero calls.

Flop: 8d 4h 8c (4.67SB, 2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero raises, Button 3-bets, Hero caps, Button calls.

Turn: 2h (6.33BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, Button calls.

River: ac (8.33BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, Button calls.

Results:
Final pot: 10.33BB
Hero showed Th Ts
Button mucks 9c 9d

Here is the worst hand I played all day. My turn call of his c/r is horrible as he is repping extreme strength and I have no reason not to give him credit for it, and my river call is a WTF I’ve already stuck most of it in. totally retarded.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
6 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: $57.75
UTG+1: $34.85
Hero: $231
Button: $241.30
SB: $422.80
BB: $193

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with ac kd
2 folds, Hero raises to $7, Button calls, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: :10d 3s 8c ($23, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $16, Button calls, SB calls.

Turn: as ($71, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $60, Button folds, SB raises to $120, Hero calls.

River: ad ($311, 2 players)
SB bets $94, Hero calls all-in $88.
Uncalled bets: $6 returned to SB.

Results:
Final pot: $487
SB Shows 10h 10s
Hero mucks Ac Kd

Here is a hand that I played really well, and just got unlucky that he hit is J on the turn (I’m 90% to win the hand on the flop). If anything but an A hits on the turn I think he calls off his stack (obviously it isn’t “calling off” when he hits his two outer). This is perfect bet manipulating based on his stack size, and I would have gotten him all-in by the river drawing nearly dead. Oh well suckouts happen.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: $802.70
UTG+1: $162.38
CO: $282.80
Button: $886.20
SB: $142.50
Hero: $553.80

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is BB with kh qs
4 folds, SB raises to $12, Hero calls.

Flop: :10s 4h kd ($24, 2 players)
SB bets $12, Hero raises to $28, SB calls.

Turn: js ($80, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $50, SB raises to $100, Hero raises to $200, SB calls all-in $2.5.
Uncalled bets: $97.5 returned to Hero.

River: kc ($285, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $285)

Results:
Final pot: $285
SB Shows Jh Jc
Hero Shows Kh Qs

Final hand was against a Full Tilt Pro (lolz) that liked to spew with any draw. So I just showed that I could spew right back. Plus it helps to hit your 10 outers.

Full Tilt Poker
Limit Holdem Ring game
Limit: $15/$30
6 players

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with 7s 8s
2 folds, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, CO calls.

Flop: 6s 6c 9d (7.67SB, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, CO calls.

Turn: 8c (6.83BB, 2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets, CO raises, Hero calls.

River: tc (10.83BB, 2 players)
CO bets, Hero raises, CO calls.

Results:
Final pot: 14.83BB
Hero showed 7s 8s
CO mucks As 6d

Thanks for reading, and good luck at the tables.

Peace

themightyjim